Web of Evil: A Novel of Suspense by J. A. Jance Read Free Book Online Page A

Grayson was still alive.
    “Yes,” Ali answered. “It was supposed to be finalized today. That was probably the first time anyone besides April noticed Paul was missing—when he didn’t show up for the hearing.”
    “Friendly?” Sims asked.
    At first Ali wasn’t sure what Sims meant. “I beg your pardon?”
    “You know,” he responded. “Your divorce. Is it amicable and all that?”
    “As amicable as can be expected considering my husband’s girlfriend—his fiancée—is eight and a half months pregnant.”
    “With his baby?” Sims asked.
    “So I’ve been told,” Ali said. “They were supposed to get married tomorrow. Speaking of which, why am I doing the identification? Why not April?”
    “You’re still married to him,” Sims said. “From our point of view, you’re a surviving relative. She’s not.”
    Ali thought about that for a few moments. It was rush hour. Traffic was painfully slow. As they inched along, Ali realized that she and the two detectives were in the same situation. They wanted information from her; she wanted the same from them.
    “This man who’s dead,” she said, “this man who may be Paul. What was he doing on the railroad tracks? Did he go there on purpose? Was he trying to commit suicide or something? Maybe he and April had a fight and it pushed Paul over the edge.”
    “It wasn’t suicide,” Sims replied.
    “An accident then?”
    Sims said nothing.
    Ali thought about what Jake had reportedly said about Paul bailing on his own bachelor party without bothering to tell his host or anyone else that he was leaving. Unless…Paul Grayson had never had a good track record where women were concerned. Ali could well imagine him picking up one of the strippers or the pole dancers or whatever brand of feminine charm the Pink Swan had available and taking her somewhere for a little private tête-à-tête.
    “Was he alone or was he with someone?” Ali asked.
    “We’re not sure,” Sims said. “We have people doing a grid search, but so far no other victims have been found.”
    There was a short pause before Detective Taylor piped up. “When exactly did you get to town, Ms. Reynolds? And did you drive over or fly?”
    Taylor’s questions activated a blinking caution light in Ali’s head. She considered her words carefully before she answered. The very fact that she’d been close enough to see the flashing lights on the emergency vehicles might give the cops reason to think she was somehow involved. If she told them about driving past Palm Springs at midnight and seeing the lights, Sims and Taylor could well turn Ali’s coincidental proximity into criminal opportunity. Still, she’d already given the same information to Detective Little. It seemed foolhardy to withhold it a second time, and there was even less point to not being truthful.
    “I drove over yesterday,” Ali said. “Last night. I left Phoenix late in the afternoon. Got to the hotel around two in the morning.”
    “Which means you were driving through the Palm Springs area around…?”
    “Midnight,” Ali answered without waiting for Detective Taylor to finish posing his question. “And you’re right. I did see the cop cars and ambulances and other emergency vehicles showing up at the scene of the wreck. It’s dark in the desert. You could see those lights for miles. Later on, I heard on the radio that a train had crashed into a car.”
    Ali’s cell phone rang just then. The phone number wasn’t one she recognized. “Hello?”
    “Ali Reynolds?”
    “Yes.”
    “My name is Victor, Victor Angeleri. My colleague Helga Myerhoff asked me to call you. Sorry I couldn’t get back to you earlier. I’ve been tied up in a meeting. I thought maybe it would be a good idea for us to get together so I have a little better feel for what’s happening. Helga gave me a brief overview, but I’d like a few more details from you. Since the office is just down the street from your hotel, I thought maybe I could